


i swear the stars have aligned (i swear i mean it this time)

by orphan_account



Series: Life in Years [2]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: (again), Bisexual Male Character, Coming Out, First Dates, Josh gets a boyfriend his name is alex he's great, Josh is Happy, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Tinder, brief internalized biphobia, its cute i swear, slight angst with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:40:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7587277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s happy. Actually, genuinely happy in a way he hasn’t been in a really, really long time, and he savors it. </p>
<p> It’s a good year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Title from "Vignette" by Beth O'Reilly)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i swear the stars have aligned (i swear i mean it this time)

**Author's Note:**

> Well, shit, guys. 
> 
> First off let me apologize for how long it took to put this up. While writing this, I went through a shitty break up that made me lose whatever motivation I had to write about a nice, happy, healthy relationship. But I got over it, and I wrote about this nonexistent relationship between Josh and Alex, and it helped to think about something other than my ex girlfriend. Oversharing, I know. 
> 
> My stuff aside, I really hope that you like this. I definitely recommend reading the first work in this series so that this installment makes more sense to you, but if you really have to, it can be read as a standalone. 
> 
> Anyway, if you do happen to like it, feel free to leave a kudos! And no matter how you feel about it, please leave a comment. I'm super open to criticism as long as it's done semi-respectfully, and also please point out any spelling/grammatical errors I've made.
> 
> Enjoy.

First dates have never been Josh’s thing. 

On his first date with Debby, they went to a skating rink with another couple that she was friends with. He’d asked her if she wanted to get any food, and then, while he was skating over to the snack bar, fell flat on his face. 

Debby had doubled over and laughed hysterically for a while, and, while doing that, had slipped onto her ass. They both sat there in the middle of the skating rink laughing for a while, and that’s when Josh knew they were meant to be together.

Slipping and falling in front of everyone in LA has, unfortunately, been his best first date yet.

His other first dates have included, but are not limited to: being vomited on, being hit in the face with a fish, and being mistaken for Tyler. 

So it’s needless to say that he isn’t exactly looking forward to the date that he has planned for tonight. 

He met the guy on Tinder, which Tyler convinced him to join, and they had matched almost immediately. They seemed to have similar interests, like going to music festivals and watching The X-Files, so Josh figures that going on a date with him may not be the worst thing to ever happen to him. 

“What should I wear?” Josh asks as he holds up two shirts, He isn’t exactly sure what the dress code is for this.

“Dude, what happened to the floral shirt from earlier? I thought you were gonna wear that.” Tyler replies. 

“Um, it was too casual, I think,” Josh tells him. “Now, which one do I go with?” He holds the shirts up higher.

“Those are two plain shirts, wear either.” Tyler tells him, a bored sounding sigh following his sentence. 

“Tyler, come on, help me!” Josh pleads with him. 

“Fine! Uh, the blue one.”

“But what if I start sweating? He’ll totally see it, and then he’ll think I just, like, sweat all the time.” Josh sits on the loveseat and rests his head in the palm of his hands. 

“He won’t be paying attention, promise.” 

“But what if he does?” Josh whines. 

“Just wear the white shirt then!” Tyler says loudly. 

Josh pauses. Then, “Do you think it’s too tight fitted?” 

“Oh my god, Josh!” Tyler yells, pulling at his hair. Josh thinks he’s mad, but then he starts laughing. “I can’t believe you’re so worried about this! He won’t care what you wear! And I’m pretty sure that he won’t mind if he can see a little muscle under your shirt, okay? Just wear any shirt. Or no shirt! I don’t care, J.” 

“... White shirt it is, then.” Josh says, taking the tee into his hand and heading to his room to change. 

The shirt, as it turns out, is a little bit tight, It makes Josh look like he’s trying to let everyone know how often he goes to the gym, which he isn’t, and so he puts his camouflage jacket over it to try and hide himself a little more. Josh then grabs a random snapback hat

He goes back out to Tyler, who he finds scrolling through twitter on his phone, and asks him. “This good?” 

Tyler looks up at Josh and locks his phone, shoves it into his pocket. “You look good, J.” 

“Good?” Josh asks. 

“Yeah, good.”

“How good?” 

“I don’t know, attractive, I guess?” 

“If you were dating me, and I showed up in this, would you wanna continue dating me?” Josh asks him to clarify. 

“Yes, Josh, you look very good. Don’t you have to go soon?” Josh beams at him, satisfied. 

“Yeah, I probably do need to run soon. Okay, if this date is terrible, I’m never dating anyone again. Got it? Never.” 

Tyler laughs. “Okay, bye, Josh. Have fun, but, like, safe fun, alright?” 

“You’re gross. But, um, be out of here by eight, just in case.” Josh says seriously, ignoring Tyler’s shouts of ‘Ew’ as he leaves. 

\----

Josh is pretty good at bowling. 

He picked his favorite bowling alley as the location of the date for that reason, because he’s pretty sure he won’t embarrass himself doing something he’s good at. At least, that’s the logic he’s counting on. 

“Josh?” He hears someone call while he’s tying his shoes. He looks up and sees a tall guy with gorgeous dark brown skin looking around anxiously, and he’s relieved to see that he looks just as nervous as Josh feels.

Josh stands up, leaving one shoe half-tied, and walks over to him. “Alex?” 

Alex smiles warmly. “Oh my god, I’m so glad that you’re you! I’ve never been into meeting guys online, so I was kinda worried, you know?” 

Josh lets himself relax. “Me too, me too, yeah. Um, it’s really nice to actually meet you, like, in person.” 

“You too!” Alex replies. 

“So,” Josh says. “What size shoes do you wear?” 

“Oh, I’m an eleven. But I know this place runs a little big, so I get a ten-and-a-half.” Alex tells him. “I’ll go get those and then it’s game on, cool?” 

“Cool.” Josh bends down to finish tying his shoe and then goes to pick out a ball (he ends up picking an eleven-pound neon pink ball, because they glow the best when the lights go out). 

Alex returns soon enough, ugly brown bowling shoes in hand and cocky smile spread across his face. “Ready to get your ass kicked, Josh?” 

“Oh, funny how you think you can beat me! You’re cuter than I expected,” Josh shoots back. 

“Is that so? This cutie’s gonna wreck you at bowling now, if that’s okay with you.” Alex stands to take his turn. 

“By all means, go right ahead!” Josh smiles, shrugging off his jacket and tying it around his waist.   
Alex’s first turn is a spare, which he takes pride in until Josh bowls a strike directly afterwards. 

“Wow, I may have a little competition after all.” Alex tells him, and Josh can’t help but feel a little bit proud of himself. 

The two go on like that for a while, teasing and laughing and talking about anything they can, until the manager announces over the PA system that they’re about to turn the lights off and the black lights on. 

“Oh man, this is the best part!” Josh tells Alex giddily as they cut the lights and bring down the disco ball. 

“Wow, I feel like I should have an afro. And roller skates, maybe.” Alex laughs while they start to play the music. 

“What? This is top 40 radio, it’s not even old.” Josh tells him. 

“It’s the disco ball, I think. Gives everything that sort of vibe, y’know?” 

“Right, got it,” Josh laughs along. 

They play their game for a while more, until Josh wins with a strike followed by a spare on his last turn. Afterwards, Alex claims that he’s been ‘robbed’ and that he ‘won’t stand for this’, and that he deserves some food for letting Josh win. 

“That’s the beauty of this place,” Josh says. “They have not only the best lights-out bowling experience you can ever have, but also great pizza. You do like pizza, right?” 

“Oh, hell yeah, of course! Who doesn’t love pizza?” 

“Why are we here, then? We should be over there,” He says, pointing to the snack counter. 

\----

“Wait, you fell on your ass? Like, right in front of him?” Alex laughs as he talks. After pizza, the two decided to go out for ice cream at Alex’s favorite dessert place. 

“Her, actually. But, yeah she thought it was hilarious, so no problem.” Josh says from the passenger’s seat of Alex’s car. 

“Her? Oh, okay.” 

“Um, sorry, is that a problem?” Josh asks. 

“No! No, I just didn’t know that you used to be, like, straight.” Alex explains. 

“I’m bisexual, actually. Both teams.” Josh tells him. 

“Oh,” Alex says. Then, “cool.”

“Are you not okay with that?” Josh asks, his voice going slightly defensive. 

“Oh, god, no! I mean, yes? I mean- it’s completely fine. Really. It’s just that all the guys I’ve been with were gold stars. Granted, it’s only been, like, two guys, but, still. I’m sorry.” As Alex tries to save himself, he trips over his words cutely. 

Josh smiles. “It’s fine, Alex, don’t worry about it. Let’s just keep the good times rolling. This is one of the best milkshakes I’ve had in my whole fucking life, you know?” 

“Oh man, I know! I told you so! You didn’t even get the best flavor, just wait until you try the peanut butter bites shake, it’s way better than yours.” 

Josh feigns an appalled expression. “Uh, excuse me? Everyone knows that cookie dough is the all time best ice cream flavor, no matter what. End of story.” 

“Come on!” Alex yells. “Okay, I’m not going to stand for this. Open your mouth, Josh. You’re about to get taken to flavor town.” 

“Did you just quote Guy Fieri?” 

“Listen, I watch a lot of food network. It’s not important. Open up, Dun.” Alex holds a white plastic spoon loaded with ice cream to Josh’s mouth. 

Josh opens his mouth and accepts the bite offered to him with a grain of salt. 

“So….?” Alex asks, staring at him with a smile. 

“... okay, it’s not terrible,” He admits. Alex pumps his fist up in a mini-celebration. “Can I have some more?” 

\----

“This was really, really fun, Josh.” Alex smiles when they drive back to the bowling alley so Josh can get his car. 

“Yeah, I’m really glad we did this.” Josh smiles back. 

“Hopefully I’ll see you again soon?” Alex says hopefully. 

“You definitely will.” Josh says, and then he’s suddenly aware of how close Alex is to him

“Goodnight, Josh,” Alex whispers, and his eyes are so brown now. 

“Goodnight,” Josh whispers back, and his voice is threatening to crack, and his stomach is tied in pretty knots and then- 

And then they’re kissing. 

They’re kissing, and Alex’s hand is cupping Josh’s jaw, and Josh feels so weightless in this moment. 

And then it’s over. 

It’s over far too soon, Josh thinks, because he could kiss Alex for much longer than that and be so, so happy. When Alex pulls back he’s smiling, and just staring at Josh, and Josh can’t make himself stare back, but he’s smiling too. 

“Goodnight,” Alex says again. 

Josh only nods. 

\----

“So, how was your date?” Tyler asks him the next day. 

“It was good.” Josh answers him. 

“Just ‘good’?” Tyler mimics him. “Not, like, amazing? Or magical? Or splendid?” 

“It was amazing. And magical. Splendid might be a little bit of a stretch, though.” Josh jokes with him. 

“Nice. Did you guys, like….?” Tyler asks quietly. 

“Oh my god, Tyler! No!” Josh yells. “I don’t- not on the first date, Ty.”

“Okay, Okay! Just asking.” Tyler laughs. “So you’re gonna go out with him again?” 

“I hope so, yeah. If he wants to, I mean, then of course I am.” 

“Cool.” Tyler says, then, “Hey, I’m supposed to meet Mark for lunch pretty soon, so I gotta go.” 

“Yeah, okay. See you later, Ty.” 

Tyler leaves. Josh watches TV and thinks some more about Alex. 

\----

He sees Alex again two weeks later, after texting him for hours almost every night for the past eleven days. He thinks they know each other pretty well. 

Alex chooses the location this time, and he picks Josh up in his car like a gentleman now that they both know each other are actually real and not fake Tinder creeps. He won’t tell Josh where he’s taking him, but he doesn’t make Josh put on a blindfold, so he’s probably still a good person. 

“Come on, Alex, just tell me!” Josh pleads from the passenger’s seat. 

“Chill! You’ll find out soon enough, ‘kay?” Alex retorts. His hand rests around the headrest of Josh’s seat comfortably while he drives. 

“Ugh, okay. I guess I’ll just wait,” Josh says, taking his hat off and running his right hand through his hair in faux exasperation. 

Alex looks over at him briefly. “Oh,” He says. Then, “Your hair is pink?” 

Josh puts his snapback back on. “Yeah. You didn’t see that last time?” 

Alex laughs. “No, you decided to be weird and wear a hat on the first date. And now you’re doing it again.” 

“Should I leave it off?” Josh asks. 

“No, you look good in hats.” 

“I thought you said it was weird,” Josh teases.

“I-uh. Whatever. Point is, I though your hair was blue! It is in your profile picture.” 

“Yeah, I took that about a month ago. Sorry for all the false information I gave you,” Josh jokes. 

“You’ve had two hair colors in two months? How do you still have any hair at all?” 

“Carol’s Daughter conditioner saved my life,” Josh tells him. “Are we there yet?” 

“Almost! Two minutes, we’ll be there, swear.” 

“This is taking forever.”

“Josh, we’ve been in the car for fifteen minutes. Maybe.” 

“Feels longer.” 

Alex just laughs.

\----

After what feels like a million years, they finally arrive. They’re at a part of L.A that Josh has never been to before, a part where there’s less people and more flowers, and Josh doesn’t really know what they’re doing when Alex steps out of the car. He follows suit anyway, though, and runs a little bit to catch up with his date. 

“What are we-” Josh starts to ask, but Alex cuts him off. 

“Are you afraid of heights?” He inquires suddenly. 

“A little.” Josh tells him, abandoning his own question. 

“How much is ‘a little’?” 

“I dunno, roller coasters don’t bother me, but I wouldn’t go skydiving.”

“Perfect!” Alex shouts, grabbing Josh’s hand and leading him in a speed-walk across the road. 

Josh is smiling and the nervous energy in his system is making his heart race and his stomach do flips. He briefly notices that Alex’s hand is warm and a little bit sweaty, but he doesn’t mind. He sort of likes it, strange as that may be.

In front of them is a tall concrete building that appears to be some sort of car park, and Josh is confused all over again. “Why are we here?” He asks once they get to the other side of the road. 

Alex lets go of his hand. “For our date, obviously.” He replies, and then he runs towards the door of the building. Josh has no choice but to take off after him. 

He follows Alex up at least twelve long flights of stairs before they reach a door and Alex finally stops. Josh is panting and holding onto his chest, trying to contain the heart that he just knows is going to pop out at any second now. 

“You okay?” Alex asks breathlessly, putting a hand on Josh’s shoulder. 

Josh nods and straightens himself up, forces himself to start breathing from his nose instead of his mouth. Alex opens the door and reveals that they’re on the fucking roof of the building, and Josh doesn’t really know what to think as they walk into the open air. 

In the center of the roof, there’s a blanket and a basket and Josh didn’t know a date could be this cliche. 

“Rooftop picnic?” Josh asks. 

“Precisely.” Alex leads Josh to the blanket.

Josh sits down cross-legged on the soft black material, leans back on his outstretched arms. “So, what d’ya got for us today?”

Alex smiles and opens the picnic basket. “Glad you asked, you see, this is a gourmet meal!” He starts pulling things out. “Homemade sandwiches in only the finest Ziploc bags with all the fixings,” 

“Wait, what are the fixings on a homemade sandwich?” Josh asks curiously. 

“Glad you asked. They’re all on the side, so it’s fully customizable, but the fixings on a sandwich are: ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce, steak sauce, potato chips, and hot fries.”

“Impressive,” Josh laughs. “So, what else?” 

“In addition to the chips, we got some strawberries, some pineapple in there, and your choice of water or Mountain Dew.” Alex tells him, like a waiter rattling off the specials. 

“Sounds great, Alex. Thanks.” Josh takes a sandwich and a bottle of water for himself. 

“No problem.” Alex replies. 

They’re silent as they put things on their sandwiches, the wind shaking the leaves on the trees lightly being the only noise they could hear. 

“So,” Alex says, breaking the silence. “Let’s talk about you.” 

“Hmm?” Josh hums around a mouthful of sandwich. 

“What do you like? How big’s your family? Where are you from? What do you do?” Alex specifies, leaning back to prop himself up on one of his arms. 

“Oh.” Josh swallows, nervous. “Uh, I’m from Ohio, in Columbus, and my family’s pretty big, I guess. My parents, me, two sisters, and a brother. As for hobbies, skating’s a pretty big one. I don’t know, I like petting cats? I’m a pretty boring guy,” Josh jokes.

“You’re not that boring, come on,” Alex nudges him playfully. “So, what do you do? Like, for work, I mean.” 

“Oh, uh, I’m a drummer.” Josh says, not wanting to go into detail. 

“Really? And that’s your only source of income?” Josh nods. “Wow, you must be one hell of a drummer. How do you make any money? Musicians in LA usually make next to nothing.” 

“We, um, we play a lot of shows. We travel some.” Josh tells him. He takes another bite out of his sandwich.

“Cool! I’d love to see you guys play some day. Maybe you can give me a demo or something.” 

“Maybe, yeah.” 

Josh makes sure not to talk about himself anymore that day.

\----

“He wants to see us play.” Josh says, sitting on the kitchen counter of Tyler’s place. 

“So? What’s the big deal? We play all the time, I’m sure we could get him tickets.” Tyler says, like it isn’t a problem at all. Like what they do is completely normal and won’t freak anyone out. 

“What’s he gonna say when he finds out we’re not just, like, some nobody band playing in the basement of bars? What’s he gonna say when he sees people crying and screaming and, Jesus, what’s he gonna say when he sees all the people?” Josh frets. “What if he leaves me?” 

“Why would he leave you?” Tyler asks. 

“Well a lot of people don’t like being written about on blogs and hated on Twitter and obsessed over, you know?”

“I think you’re exaggerating, J. We’re not that big of a deal.” 

“We kind of are, if you haven’t noticed.” 

“Just invite him to a show, and, if he leaves, it’s not like you guys have been together for very long.” 

Josh runs his fingers through his hair. “I guess you’re right.”

“I usually am.” 

\----

“So were you serious about seeing us play the other week?” 

Alex’s eyes light up for a moment. “Yeah, of course I was!” 

“We have a show coming up in a few weeks. Well, a series of them. I could get you a ticket, if you want.” 

“Ticket?” Alex laughs. “What kind of underground band sells tickets?” 

“Uh, ours, I guess.” Josh shrugs.

“So that’s how you make all that cash, people pay to hear a band they don’t know about. Smart.” 

“Hey, about that-” Josh is too quiet, Alex cuts him off. 

“What kind of music do you guys play?” He asks curiously.

“It’s kind of complicated, I think. Rap, kind of, but also kind of pop, and sometimes there’s some screaming?” 

“Sounds… interesting,” Alex says. 

“You don’t have to go, y’know? I won’t be upset or anything.” 

“I wanna see you play, though!” Alex puts his hand on Josh’s knee. “I really want to see you do what you’re good at, okay?”

Josh smiles. “‘Kay.” 

\----

“Jesus, Ty, he’s almost here.” Josh worries aloud. 

He had picked one of the smaller venues (which happened to be sold out to around two thousand people) to give Alex a ticket to so that maybe he wouldn’t be so freaked out. Still, two thousand people is a lot, he has to admit. 

“You’re gonna be fine, J. Just do what you do and try not to think about Alex watching.” Tyler presses his earpiece into his ear and stretches his arms. 

Josh nods, still nervous. His phone vibrates. 

From: Alex|8:53 PM  
here? Is this the right place?

To: Alex|8:55 PM  
yeah, you’re here. Come in and tell the guards your name please

From: Alex|8:56 PM  
guards? Holy shit, j 

Josh doesn’t respond. He messes with his earpieces a little and stretches his arms and tries not to be nervous. 

A few minutes pass by as Josh waits with sweaty hands, and then, finally. Alex is here. Alex is standing in front of him, his brown eyes looking dazed and confused and beautiful as ever, and Josh just barely manages to explain anything.

“Right, okay. So, um, I’m in this band. This two person band with my best friend, Tyler, he’s over there. We’re called twenty one pilots, and we’re kind of big in the alternative scene. I didn’t want to like, freak you out, so…” Josh rubs the back of his neck. 

“Oh.” Alex says. “Okay, sick.” 

“You’re not… upset?” Josh asks. 

“You kind of have the coolest job ever, Josh. How could I be mad about that?” Alex reassures him with a pretty smile. 

“Thanks. Okay, so I kind of have to go. I’ll see you later, okay?” 

“Later.” 

Josh kisses him on the cheek, quick and sweet, and then runs to his place on the drums where he then goes on to play as hard as he can. 

\----

“Babe, you were so good!” Alex tells him excitedly once the show is over, slinging his arm over Josh’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, thank you.” Josh replies, cheeks red with exhaustion and flattery. He pulls his earpiece out to better hear Alex talk to him. 

“The masks and those lights, wow, it’s just like- that was probably the best live show I’ve ever seen, honest.” He beams. 

Tyler comes over to them sweaty and shirtless and looking happy. “Hey, you’re Josh’s boyfriend. Alex, right?” 

“That would be me, yeah.” Alex unwraps his arm from around Josh and shakes Tyler’s hand. “And you’re Tyler? Josh talks about you a lot.” 

“Cool, cool. Did you like the show?” 

While they’re talking, all that runs through Josh’s head is ‘boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend’. Though they haven’t had that particular talk yet, Alex didn’t seem bothered at all to take on the title. Were they boyfriends now? They went on dates, and kissed, and had fun with one another, and Josh guesses that all of that makes them boyfriends. 

“Ready to go?” Alex asks into Josh’s ear, lacing their fingers together. 

Josh nods and hums in agreement. 

\----

“You played so, so well, J,” Alex praises lowly, kissing Josh passionately. 

Josh doesn’t know how this happened, really. They were driving home with Alex’s hand on Josh’s leg, and then they were making out in the driveway of Alex’s apartment, and then they were here: on the couch with Josh’s shirt halfway off, Alex occasionally breaking only to tell him how beautiful he was or to give him breathless commendation. He doesn’t know how it happened, but he doesn’t really care. 

Alex pulls off Josh’s snapback, mutters something about how he always has to wear those goddamn hats against his mouth, and tugs on his fading red hair. Josh moans and straddles Alex’s lap simply to get closer to him. Josh’s shirt is pulled off shortly after his hat, and Alex decides that it’s necessary to stop kissing him and start staring at him instead. 

“Oh my god…” He says to seemingly nobody. He takes his time in tracing the muscles and tattoos on his arm. “I never noticed some of these, Josh. They’re really pretty.” 

“Thanks.” Josh shifts in his spot on Alex’s lap as he becomes increasingly aware of how hard he is in his jeans. He desperately wants them to continue. 

“This one is my favorite, I think.” He points to one on Josh’s sleeve: a tree. “It’s so detailed, J. It looks so good on you.” He looks back up into Josh’s eyes. 

“Is this the right time to be talking about this?” Josh interjects impatiently. 

“Guess not.” Alex smiles and pulls off his own shirt, revealing a beautiful expanse of unmarked, toned dark skin. “I never got the courage to get any of my own.” 

“That’s okay, trust me.” Josh goes back to kissing Alex. He lets Alex feel the muscles on his back as he grinds his hips down lightly. 

“Babe, Josh, we need- oh, fuck- we need to calm down, before, oh, b-before it escalates.” Alex says, to Josh’s disappointment.

Josh sits up, taking his hands off of their spot on Alex’s warm chest slowly. “I-is this not good?” 

“No! I mean- yes, I mean, Jesus, uh,” Alex rubs his eyes, frustrated with himself. “It’s good, J, it’s so good.”

“What? Then why are we stopping?” 

“You’ve just never done this before and I don’t- I don’t wanna rush you, okay?” 

“You’re not rushing me! I’m old enough to decide that I want to have sex with my boyfriend, right?” 

Alex is quiet for a second. In this instant of silence, Josh is painfully aware that he is still hard, despite the somewhat awkward conversation they’re having. “We shouldn’t do this on the couch, I don’t think.”

Josh agrees almost instantly with a quick nod of his head. Alex gives him one more kiss while they’re still on the couch, and it isn’t like the previous ones. It’s slow and careful and beautiful, and Josh knows that this is exactly what he wants.

 

\----

Josh wakes up naked with a sore ass. It isn’t unbearable, just enough to remind him that last night wasn’t just a dream; that Alex isn’t a dream. Josh briefly considers not waking up, just cuddling into the warm body behind him and letting himself fall back to sleep, but his bladder (which feels like it’s going to explode) says otherwise. So he carefully and lightly lifts Alex’s muscular arms up and slides out of his loose grip. 

“Are you leaving?” He hears a lazy, raspy voice ask him once he’s gotten out of bed. 

“I was just going to the bathroom, sorry I woke you up.” Josh looks to Alex as he pulls on his underwear, only to see that his eyes are still closed. 

“‘S okay, jus’ give me a minute.” He stretches across the bed with a weird sort of moan and rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands. “Good morn- are those ‘Iron Man’ boxers?” He says, his voice still deep with sleep.

“Good morning to you too.” Josh says back, starting to leave the room. 

“Hey, do you need to shower?” Alex asks him before he can go. 

“I didn’t bring extra clothes…” Josh tells him, gesturing to the shirt and pants on the floor by the bed.

“You can wear some of mine. They might be a little bit long in the front, but I think our arms are about the same size, so they should fit alright.” Alex offers. 

“Oh, thanks.”

“Anytime, babe.” Alex says, purposefully exaggerating the nickname that he knows will make Josh flustered. 

“Shut up,” Josh laughs, 

\----

Josh is done in the bathroom in about fifteen minutes. When he’s out of the shower, he can’t help but take a second look at whatever amazing body wash is making him smell this goddamn good. 

He leaves the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and water still dripping from his hair and down his back. He makes his way back into Alex’s room to look for more clothes, deciding on a plain white t-shirt and black jeans that look baggy on him due to their size difference. 

“Wait a second, Alex?” He calls. 

“Yeah?” Alex shouts back from a different room. 

“I don’t have any clean underwear, and I don’t really wanna put mine back on.” Josh explains. 

“Just go commando! It’s hot!” Then, “Kidding. Top drawer.” 

Josh, himself, has about ten pairs of underwear maybe. Alex seems to have about thirty or forty, all of them varying in style, color, pattern, and brand. He’s pretty sure that the last time he saw this many pairs of underwear in the same place, he was on the Calvin Klein website, shopping for his own. 

One pair in particular catches his eye, though: they’re boxers with Iron Man, of all things, printed all over them. Almost the exact same kind that he had pointed out on Josh earlier. Josh decides to wear them for the sake of irony, and because they do look pretty cool, if he says so himself. 

He’s dressed pretty soon after that, pink hair still wet and dampening the top of the shirt. He throws the towel in a hamper in the corner and goes to find Alex. 

“Good morning, again. You want some french toast?” Alex apparently didn’t think it was necessary to put on any more clothes than a pair of sweatpants. Not that Josh is complaining though, because he most definitely isn’t. 

“Uh, sure, yeah.” Josh says, sitting down and trying not to stare at the contours on Alex’s back. 

“Hey, have you ever thought about why they call it ‘french toast’? Like, which idiot put some white bread in eggs and cinnamon and was like, ‘Yeah, dude, this is french as hell!’?” Alex muses jokingly. 

“I don’t know, actually. Maybe you should look it up sometime.” 

“Maybe, yeah.” There’s a tiny silence before Alex speaks again. “So how did you sleep last night? Was my room too cold?” 

“Nah, I slept really, really well actually. Your bed is super comfortable.” 

“Oh, good! I was kind of worried, I keep the house cold at night so that my bed seems warmer than it really is. Kind of a trick of the body, y’know? And it keeps the rent lower in the winter, so that’s a plus.” 

Josh, at this point, is starting to notice the energy difference between the pair when they wake up. Alex, despite the sleep that is still dusted in his tone, seems to have more energy than during the rest of the day, weirdly enough. Josh, on the other hand, may as well still be asleep. The energy may also be nervous, Josh realizes, about what? About last night?

“So,” Alex says as he hands Josh his plate of french toast and syrup, “Do you have any plans today?” 

Josh, at the same time, asks, “Do you regret having sex with me?”

“What?” Alex asks, sounding like he’d just been told that his cat died. 

“Do you regret having sex-” Josh starts again, only to be cut off by Alex.

“I heard you, it’s just- God, why would you think that?” 

“I don’t know, it’s just, you seem kinda nervous, almost? Like you’re being careful with me.”

“J,” Alex sighs, sitting across from him and taking his hand. “Last night was… incredible, okay? Amazing, beautiful, and whatever other synonym for ‘awesome’ there is. And I don’t regret it, not a minute of it. Not even when you accidentally used your teeth when you were-” 

“Let’s not revisit that, please,” Josh pleads, his face covered with pink.

“Okay,” Alex laughs. “Anyway, my point is this: I am so, so into you, okay? You drive me crazy in the best fucking way, and if I’m acting weird this morning then it’s because I’m scared. I’m scared that you regret it, I’m scared that you aren’t into me anymore, I’m just scared.” 

Josh waits for a minute. “God, you’re such a corny little shit.” He smiles and leans over the table to kiss Alex, getting syrup on his shirt in the process. “I- God, I fucking love you. You know that?” 

Alex puts an incredibly huge smile on his face. “I love you too, J. So much.” 

\----

 

“I’m gonna shower, okay?” Alex says once he’s finished eating. “Remote is on the couch, probably, if you want to watch TV.” 

“Thanks for breakfast, Alex. It was really good.” 

“You’re very welcome, Joshua.” Alex says, putting on a faux-posh voice and bowing. 

“You’re so lame, jeez.” Josh teases, pushing Alex lightly towards the bathroom. 

“Wow, words hurt, J. Bullying is a real problem around the world.” Alex informs him, smiling. 

“Just go take your stupid shower.” Josh is smiling back.

\----

“You’re at his house?” Tyler asks incredulously. 

“Yeah, kinda.” Josh replies into the phone. He’s decided to use the time that Alex is in the shower to let Tyler know that he’s not dead or anything. 

“Woah, what happened? Did you, uh…?” Josh says nothing. “Oh my god, Josh. I can’t believe you!” 

“What?” 

“You- you barely know this guy!” 

“Are you serious? Ty, we’ve been dating for four months! I slept with Debby on the second date and you didn’t seem to have a problem with that.” 

“It’s different! Debby was…” 

“A girl?”

“God, no, Josh, you know I don’t have a problem with you being with guys. It’s just, it seems so soon, doesn’t it?” 

“No, it doesn’t. Jesus, you’re supposed to be my best friend! You’re supposed to support me with stuff like this! Don’t you remember that you’re the one who even got me to put myself into the world of guys? I thought you’d be happier for me now that I’m not moping around your apartment all the damn time.” Josh says angrily into his phone.

“I’m happy for you two, okay? I just- I don’t know, I’m sorry, okay?” Tyler says, sighing.

“Listen, Ty, I gotta go. I’ll be home sometime today, alright?” 

“Bye.” 

“Bye.” The line clicks dead. 

\----

“Is everything okay?” Alex asks when he’s out of his room, dressed in new clothes. “Sorry, I just- I couldn’t help but hear some of your conversation with Tyler while I was in the shower.” 

“It’s okay, not like we were being particularly quiet.” Josh gives a sad sort of smile. “It’s fine, or, it will be. We just had a little fight, it’s not a big deal.” 

“It was about me, right?” Alex asks, not looking at Josh anymore, instead finding the floor to be a much more appealing sight. “I didn’t hear much, but I got the gist of the conversation, right? Unless I’m just reading this completely wrong.” 

“He’s just not used to you and me, I think. I don’t know, really.” 

“You told him, didn’t you?” Alex looks at Josh again. “That we, um. Slept together.”

Josh nods. “He didn’t have the greatest reaction.” 

“I get it.” Alex says. “I’m not a girl. It’s a pretty typical straight-best-friend reaction to when you say you slept with a guy the night before, I think.” 

“It shouldn’t be.” Josh adds, because it’s true. “He shouldn’t care where I put my dick that much. Never did when I was with my ex girlfriend.” 

“I know, it’s not fair. I’m sorry for that, but,” Alex moves to sit with Josh on the couch and rubs his back with a large hand. “We can’t control other people’s reactions, you know? Some people are going to be unsupportive, and other’s are gonna be invasive, and that’s just what we have to deal with. But you don’t have to deal with it alone, okay?” 

Josh smiles. “You’re the best.”

Alex smiles back and kisses Josh on the cheek. “I know.”

\----

Sex with Alex is good. Like, really fucking good, all the time. 

Josh is pretty sure that it’s not legal for something to feel this good, and if it is, Josh thanks the horny bastard who passed that law. 

Few things in this world are better than the sound of Alexander De’Andre Ayers moaning in pleasure. Of all the music he’s ever listened to, of every drum beat he’s committed to memory, Alex having an orgasm is probably his favorite melody so far. 

He doesn’t say any of this when Ashley asks how the sex is, though, just looks at her and says it’s great, doesn’t give her the luxury of the dirty details. 

“Alex sounds great, apart from the sex stuff you won’t tell me about,” She tells him with a glare, but she’s also got a little half-smile thing going on that tells him she isn’t really all that upset.

“He is great, Ash. He’s so amazing, God, I can’t believe it.” Josh can’t help but grin as he speaks. “I think Tyler might have a problem with him, though.”

“Why?” 

“Not really sure, honestly. They’ve met, like, one time, and it went fine. But when I first slept with Alex, I told Tyler the next day and he got pretty pissed. Talked about how I barely knew him and shit, you know? But then I mentioned that I slept with Debby on the second date, and he just said that it was different.” 

“Why? Because Alex is a guy?” Ashley infers. 

“Probably. He says that isn’t it, but I think it is. I don’t blame him, I guess. Tyler’s really religious- God, I’m pretty religious, too- but the difference is that Tyler never really went out to explore things when he was younger. When I was a teenager I got an awful haircut and a weird piercing just to piss off my family. When Tyler was that age he joined a basketball team and played a piano. So I guess he kind of…” Josh trails off little bit, searches for the right words. 

“Kept himself sheltered?” Ashley offers. 

“Yeah, exactly. And because of that he doesn’t know how to deal with,” Josh gestures to himself vaguely. 

“Mhm,” Ashley says. “Well, can I just put my thought out there?” Josh nods. “Okay. Well, Tyler may have been sheltered when he was a kid, but for the past, what? Five, six years? You guys have been sort of famous. You have gay fans coming out to you all the time, don’t you? You have friends, such as yours truly, who are queer. Didn’t you guys tour with Panic! At The Disco a few years back? Brendon’s, like, the bi-est bi to ever bi.” She takes a breath. “So, that being said, I think that Tyler’s kind of out of excuses, you know? He’s either okay with gay people or he’s not.” 

Josh doesn’t talk for a few seconds. “You’re right, I guess.” Then, “So, you wanna play Super Smash Bros?” 

\----

“I’m gonna tell my family,” Josh says out of the blue one day. “Soon. Like, maybe this week. Just thought you should know.” 

Tyler stops a little bit, frozen for a small eternity, and then keeps doing the dishes in his sink, hoping Josh doesn’t notice.

(He does.) 

“Good for you.” Tyler finally says after letting almost a full minute pass with uncomfortable silence. “What about Alex? Are you gonna introduce him?” 

“Yeah, I think so. We’ve been together for, what, five months? I think it’s time. Besides, it’s not fun keeping secrets from my family,” Pauses, then adds, “or the clique.” 

“You’re gonna tell them, too?” Tyler asks, turns away from the sink and towards Josh like he’s just said he’s going to commit murder. 

“Those of them who haven’t already guessed as much, yeah.” His relationship with Alex could probably be seen as platonic through what he’s posted, if people are wearing their straight-goggles. A lot of the clique, however, are already pretty sure that they’re together. Actually saying it most likely wouldn’t be a surprise to most.

“Oh,” Tyler says simply. “Good luck, then.” He sounds insincere. 

“Thanks.” Josh replies. He sounds misbelieving. 

\----

To: Alejandro|6:43 PM  
Hey, what do you think abt getting on a plane to ohio this weekend??

From: Alejandro|7:05 PM  
Sorry just got home

From: Alejandro|7:05 PM  
But holy shit why??

To: Alejandro|7:06 PM  
thinking of coming out to my family??? figured i might as well introduce them to my boyfriend ya know

From: Alejandro|7:08 PM  
okay well first of all thats great !! nd second im down if this is what you really want to do i support u fully nd will definitely fly into a fucking corn field so u can come out to your family

To: Alejandro|7:10 PM  
Ohio isnt just cornfields u jerk 

To: Alejandro|7:10 PM  
And im sure abt this. Theres a flight on friday at 10:30 AM so you’d have to take off work or we could take the one on saturday at 3AM 

From: Alejandro|7:12 PM  
no way in hell i am getting on a plane at 3 am i will see you friday 

To: Alejandro|7:13 PM   
<3 <3 <3 thank u, i love u

From: Alejandro|7:14 PM  
I love you too

 

\----

“Jesus, why is it so cold in this airport?” Alex complains for the third time in twenty minutes. Josh notices that his leg is shaking and steadies it with him hand. 

“Alex, come on. It’s not that cold.” 

“Easy for you to say, you fucking hot blooded devil-boy. You’re always warm, it’s not fair.” 

“Not my fault you were born an actual reptile, babe.” Josh teases. “Besides, for some reason I have trouble believing you’re really this upset about the temperature. Somebody afraid of flying?”” 

“Not afraid, just… apprehensive, is all.” Alex mumbles. 

“Come on, that’s the same thing and you know it. Why are you afraid? Are you not the same person who took me to the top of a building for a date?” 

“It’s not the height, really, it’s more the moving part. Do you know how fast airplanes go?” Josh shakes his head. “Well, neither do I, but really fucking fast, Josh.” 

Josh takes his hand off Alex’s knee. “God, Alex, babe. It’s gonna be fine. I spend a lot of my time on airplanes, and never once has there been a problem that wasn’t immediately fixed. We’re gonna be a-okay, alright?”

Alex nods, and if he holds Josh’s hand a little too tight during the flight then nobody has to know.

\----

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy-” Alex repeats this mantra under his breath as they walk to Josh’s family’s front door. 

“Alex, oh my God,” Josh stops them both and turns to his boyfriend. “Please, please, please say something else, anything else.” 

Alex pauses for a minute. And then, “Fuck!” He looks so deadly serious that Josh has to struggle not to smile. 

“What’s wrong? You’ve been fine up until now.” 

“It just hit me that this is your family, the most important people you have in your life. What if they hate me? What if they hate us?” Alex worries aloud. 

“I,” Josh begins, and then takes a breath. “I can’t tell you that it isn’t a possibility. But, hey, listen! I can tell you that they love me even though I’m not exactly the perfect son, and I think they’ll still love me after this. You just have to trust me on this, and you have to try not to swear so much in front of them, okay?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just. I’m nervous. Guys usually don’t take me to meet their parents is all, you know? But I’m ready, I think.” Alex nods to himself, like he’s trying to prove his words to his own ears. 

“Alright then, let’s knock. I’m sure they’ve seen the rental outside and are wondering what’s taking me so long to come in.” 

Josh walks up to the porch and has his fist raised to the door, ready to knock, when Alex stops him one more time. “Wait, wait, wait.” Josh looks behind his shoulder to Alex. “Did you tell them you were bringing me?” 

Josh grins. “Nope.” And then he knocks. 

\----

“Mom, Dad! It’s really good to see you.” Josh immediately greets his parents with hugs when they step inside. 

“You too, Josh. It’s like we never see you anymore unless it’s on TV these days!” His mom notes, and Josh can’t help but feel a little guilty. 

“Sorry about that, I’ve been a little busy lately. I really should visit more, shouldn’t I?” 

“We know you’re busy, trust me,” His dad assures him. “Don’t worry. Besides, the rest of your siblings are over here plenty. Maybe even too much.” His dad says that last part in a joking whisper to him. 

“Bill, please. Anyway, who’s this you’ve brought with you? Doesn’t look like Tyler to me.” 

“Um, I’m Alex. It’s nice to meet you both.” Alex extends his hand to be shaken by both of them. 

“Alex? Josh, is this the boy we see on your Instagram sometimes?” His dad asks. 

“Yeah, this is him. In the flesh.” Josh smiles, but it’s a nervous one, Alex can tell. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet some of Josh’s L.A friends. The only person he ever brings with him is Tyler, and it’s… refreshing, to see a new face.” 

“Uh, about that-” Josh starts, but Alex doesn’t let him finish. 

“Thanks, Mrs. Dun. Josh talks up his family pretty much daily, so it’s genuinely nice to meet you guys, I’m not just saying that so you’ll give me those cookies I can smell right now.” Alex gives her a charming grin, to which she blushes with flattery. 

“Oh, stop. I’d give you those cookies no matter what, you don’t have to work so hard for it.” She tells him. 

\----

“-and then it all came out of his nose, you should’ve seen his face! It was truly magical.” Alex finishes his third embarrassing Josh story since they all sat down to dinner under an hour ago. 

Josh had insisted on going out to his father’s favorite restaurant and paying for the whole table. 

(Buttering them up, Alex notices, very smart.) 

“Josh has always done some not-very-bright things to impress people, good to see that that hasn’t changed with time.” Josh’s mom says fondly, and Josh can feel his ears get hot. He ducks his head down just the smallest bit and smiles.

“Um, anyway…” Josh stalls, searching for a subject change. “If we’re done with ‘Rag on Josh Time’, how have you guys been?”

“We’ve been good, your dad took me to a lovely winery last week just because, which was really nice.” Mrs. Dun rubs a thumb lovingly over Mr. Dun’s knuckles. 

“Yeah, well she deserved it.” Her husband replies. Alex makes an ‘aww’ sound at how sweet they are, while Josh just smiles around his straw. “How about you? How have you been? Rockstar life treating you well?” 

“I’ve been really, really good. Better than I have been in a long time, actually.” Josh sneaks a glance at Alex, who is looking at him with encouraging eyes. He adjusts the napkin in his lap. “There’s um, something I wanted to talk to you guys about, actually.” 

Mrs. Dun suddenly looks nervous. “What’s wrong, honey?” 

“Nothing! Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that I’m a little nervous.., um, okay.” Josh takes a deep breath, lets his eyes flutter closed for all of four seconds before continuing on. His parents are looking on expectantly. “Alright, so I love you both a lot, obviously. You are the most supportive people that I have in my life. You put up with my dumb teenage years where all I did was try to get a rise out of you and encouraged me to do what I loved even though it wasn’t what you wanted for me, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.” 

“Joshua, you’re scaring me a little here, I gotta be honest.” His mom lets him know, looking uncomfortable in her seat. 

“Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to let you know, gosh, this is weird.” He smiles to himself anxiously. “I’m bisexual.” 

“You’re what?” His dad asks, but he doesn’t sound upset, he sounds curious. 

“Bisexual. I, um, I like girls, and I like boys.” Josh suddenly feels very small. “And Alex isn’t one of my L.A friends, he’s kind of my boyfriend.” 

Nobody says anything for far too long, and then his mom says, “Okay.” 

“Okay?” Josh asks, eyes searching her face for any sort of sign as to what she’s thinking. 

“Yeah, okay. We’ve always loved who you are, Josh, and this doesn’t change that for me, at least. Bill?” 

Josh’s dad smiles at him. “We raised you to be kind and loving and accepting of all sorts of people, and you were. As long as you still are, there’s no issue. And as far as Alex goes,” His dad says, looking over at said boyfriend. “Alex, you seem like you’re a nice boy. And as long as you care about Josh, I don’t have any issues with you, either.” 

“I do care about him, so, so much, Mr. Dun.” Alex promises. Josh feels like he could start crying at any moment. 

“So,” Josh’s mom starts. “How long have you two been together?” 

“Five months.” Alex says. “Our first date was in March, we went bowling.” 

“Joshua!” Mrs. Dun says disapprovingly. “You’ve been together for five months and you didn’t tell us?”

Josh gives her an apologetic grin. “I was a little nervous, sorry.” 

“Well, looks like your dad and I have some catching up to do with Alex.” 

Alex beams and squeezes Josh’s hand under the table happily.

\----

“Josh, come on. You’ve been trying to take this picture for twenty minutes, what’s wrong with all the others?” Alex complains. 

He’s right, Josh supposes. They’d been trying to take the perfect definitely-not-platonic picture to post to Josh’s Instagram for a little too long, and Alex was starting to get restless. “I just want to make sure people know, you know?” 

“Any of these would let them know!” Alex tells him frustratedly. “Jesus, J. Let me see your phone, please.” 

Josh gives it to him, unsure of what he’s going to be able to do that Josh hasn’t thought of yet. He makes sure the camera is on selfie mode, and then grabs Josh’s face and kisses him softly, quickly taking a picture and handing the phone back to Josh. 

“There, use that one. Pretty sure it can’t be read as friendly to anyone with eyes.” 

Josh smiles fondly at his impatient boyfriend. “Thanks, babe, really owe you one for all the effort you put in.”

“Anytime,” Alex sighs. “So what are you gonna caption that?” 

“Not sure yet, guess you’ll have to wait ‘til it’s posted to find out.” Then he adds, “If you can handle that wait, I mean. It might take a whole forty seconds, think you can do that?” 

“Fuck off, Dun.” Alex shoves Josh playfully.

(About two minutes later, the picture is posted. 

@joshuadun: here’s a picture of me and the most impatient boy i’ve ever met. Love u, @alexdeandre

When Alex sees the picture he calls Josh an embarrassing romantic but comments with six hearts.)

\----

Abigail is the first of his siblings to say anything about it.

“So, when were you gonna tell me about your boy toy, brother dearest?” She asks him as soon as he picks up his phone. 

“Jesus, Abby, don’t call him that.” He says, and then sarcastically adds, “And hello to you too, how’ve you been?” 

“Unimportant. Seriously, dude, I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me! Kind of stings a little, if I’m being honest here.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Josh apologizes sincerely. “If it makes you feel any better, nobody in our family really knew anyway. We talked to Mom and Dad literal hours before I posted that on Friday night. We’re still at a hotel twenty minutes away from the house, actually, that’s how fresh the news is.” 

“Who’s that?” Alex asks from the bathroom. Josh shushes him and tries to ignores his faux-hurt gasp of ‘Hey!’.

“Was that him?” Abigail asks excitedly.

“Nope.” Josh lies. 

“Come on, Josh, he’s gotta meet me at some point. Mom told me that you guys have been together for a while, so I’m guessing it’s not a fling, right?” 

“Nope, actually, we broke up. That thing you heard was him packing his bags and getting out.” 

“Stop stalling and hand him the phone, William.” And oh, he got middle named, so now he has no choice but to bend to her will. 

“Fine! But if this is a disaster it’s on you, not me, okay?” As she agrees, he can hear the smile in her voice. “Alex? Babe, my sister wants to talk to you, is that cool?” 

Alex walks out of the bathroom, stubble that had gathered the past few days now completely gone and a giddy smile on his face. “Course. Which one is this, again?” 

“Abigail.” Josh tells him as he hands the phone over to him. 

“Abigail? Got it. Hey, Abigail, it’s Alex, Josh’s boyfriend. Mhm, sorry about that, Josh was pretty worried about the whole thing. Yeah, well I think it’s kind of a good thing, we didn’t make everything public too soon. Like, what if we’d broken up? Then everyone would know, and it’d be weird, and yeah. Well, that would’ve been nice, too, but I think Josh was worth the wait.” And, okay, Josh may only be hearing one side of the conversation, but he still blushes. “Oh! U-um, I don’t really think he’d be cool with me talking to his sister about that kind of thing, but if you must know-” 

“Okay! That’s enough of that.” Josh says loudly, taking the phone. His cheeks and ears are burning for an entirely different reason now. “Abby? It’s Josh. Glad that you and Alex are getting along, but we have a plane to catch soon, and we really should be leaving soon.” 

“Come on, J, don’t be such a Debby Downer- sorry, wrong phrase- we were just about to get to the good parts!”

“So I heard,” Josh mumbles. 

“Hey, listen.” Abigail says, suddenly sounding serious. “I’m really happy for you, okay? Honest.” 

“I know you are, thanks. I love you.” 

“I love you too, Josh. Now, go get your plane, or your man, whatever you have plan-” 

“Bye, Abigail!” He says far too loudly, effectively drowning out her words. Once he hangs up, he flops down onto the queen bed next to Alex. “I know you didn’t just try to tell my sister about our sex life, right?” 

“What can I say?” Alex grins smugly, straddling Josh suddenly. “I’m a people pleaser.” 

“God, you’re so corny, I hate you.” Josh says, holding Alex’s face in his hands and kissing him anyway.

\----

Being able to walk in public hand-in-hand with Alex is a luxury Josh hadn’t realized was missing from his life. He hadn’t even thought about the reason they didn’t do that before. They’d gone on many dates in public, obviously. Sometimes they’d ended the dates with a kiss if it’d gone well enough, or if the street wasn’t particularly crowded. 

Now that everyone knows, though, something feels different. They were never really hiding anything, Josh supposes, not well anyway. But as they walk hand-in-hand in the middle of the day in fucking Ohio, of all places, there’s some crazy part of him that actually feels closer to Alex than usual, for some reason. 

“Hey, Josh! They have you guys on a poster in there, how cool is that?” Alex points with his left hand to a music store window. “We should go in there, see if you get recognized.” 

“We don’t have to, I don’t want this to be weird for you.” Josh tells him, pulling them ever so slightly away from the store. 

“Sorry, who was the one who suggested this?” Alex asks rhetorically. “Come on, my boyfriend is a super hot and awesome drummer and everyone should get to see all his awesomeness up close and personal. You in?” 

Josh smiles and adjusts his hat as he’s practically dragged into the store behind Alex. 

They walk around the store aimlessly for a little bit, Josh reluctantly letting go of Alex’s hand so he can hold some older records without fear of breaking them. Then, after about five or six minutes of just searching with nothing to find, Josh gets noticed by the person working the counter, who’s been too busy fiddling with the register to take note of their presence until now. 

“Holy shit, Josh Dun?” She asks, sitting up in her seat and giving him her full attention. 

Alex grins immediately, pride obvious on his face. Josh, on the other hand, looks like he kind of wants the ground to swallow him whole. He’s smiling, too, but he’s also tugging his hat over his head just the tiniest bit, like he thinks a hat will make him invisible. 

“I love you- I mean, your music. You’re really, really talented, and your tattoos are so cool, and your hair is just- fuck, I’m sorry. Kinda freaking out here.” She rambles, and Josh feels a twinge of guilt because her anxiety is sort of putting him at ease. 

“Um, thank you, really. I appreciate that a lot.” 

“No problem, seriously. Hey, so my best friend, his name is Jackson, and you’re kind of his idol. He actually started learning how to drum because of you, and it’d mean a lot to him if I got a picture with you for him?” She sounds so hopeful, and who is Josh to deny her of something as simple as a photo. 

“Absolutely, yeah. Alex, hey, could you please take this for us?” Josh requests, to which Alex complies with no hesitation. 

“Thank you, oh wow. Hey! I just remembered, we have a new box of Blurryface LPs in the back. So, if it isn’t too much trouble, obviously, I would really really like it if you would sign them? We won’t jack the prices up or anything, and I swear I’ll only keep one for myself. Please?” 

Alex turns to him. “What do you say, J? You up for a little impromptu record signing?” 

“Course I am. Do you have a Sharpie or anything?” 

The girl looks like she could faint at any moment.

\----

“So, how often do you have to do stuff like that?” Alex asks when they finally leave the music store almost an hour later. 

“That one was pretty unusual for me, but I get asked to sign things pretty regularly. Not as often as Tyler, though. God, the amount of ukuleles he signs on a weekly basis is insane.” Josh replies, easily deflecting the conversation topic away from himself. 

“Does that ever get, I don’t know, tiring?” Alex prys again, not allowing the subject change. 

“Not really. It’s kind of cool, you know? I get to hear a lot of really cool, personal stories from complete stories just because a song I didn’t write made them feel something. Apart from the hand cramps and the sometimes less-than-perfect timing, there’s not really a downside.” Josh explains. 

“As long as you like it, I’m one hundred percent going to continue pulling this shit,” Alex has a cocky grin on his face while he extends his hand. “Now, stop being such a sap and hold my damn hand, please.” 

“As you wish,” Josh complies. 

He’s happy. Actually, genuinely happy in a way he hasn’t been in a really, really long time, and he savors it. 

It’s a good year.


End file.
